Richard II., but during the so-called "wonderful" parliament he was
imprisoned in Bristol Castle, until released by the King on his
re-assumption of power. In 1389 he was nominated to the see of
Chichester, and translated therefrom to Salisbury in 1395. His tomb
stands in an angle of the south transept.
=Nicholas Bubwith= (1407), at one time Treasurer of England, held
Salisbury for three months only, between the bishoprics of London and
Bath and Wells. He died at Wells, 1424.
=Robert Hallam= (1407-1417). Notwithstanding his brilliant career,
both the origin and birthplace of this prelate are unknown. "Born in
England of royal blood," says one chronicler, but there is no
corroborative evidence. Prebendary of York, Archdeacon of Canterbury
in 1401, Chancellor of Oxford 1403, he left England in 1406 for Rome,
and was nominated by Pope Gregory XII. to be Archbishop of York; this
latter preferment was withdrawn, but in its stead he became Bishop of
Salisbury in 1407. He was at the Council of Pisa in 1409, and, in
1411, was created a cardinal by Pope John XXIII. At the famous Council
of Constance, 1415-1417, he was one of the foremost champions of
religious liberty, and almost alone in condemning the punishment of
death for heresy. Indeed, the whole future of the Roman church is said
to have been changed by his death at the Castle of Gotlieb in 1417,
and the supremacy of the Italian party assured by the decease of its
most formidable opponent. The brass that marks his burial place in
Constance cathedral is supposed to have been executed in England, and
sent thence some time after his death. It is engraved in Kites'
"Monumental Brasses of Wiltshire."
=John Chandler= (1417-1426) is remembered chiefly for his brief life
of William of Wykeham.
=Robert Neville= (1427-1438) was the nephew of Henry IV.; after
holding the see of Salisbury for ten years he was translated to
Durham. He founded the monastery at Sunning.
=William Ayscough= (1438-1450), who has left little record of his
life, met his death during a local rising in 1450, the year of the
Jack Cade rebellion. On the feast of SS. Peter and Paul his church at
Edingdon, near Westbury, one of his palaces, was attacked by a mob,
who seized the bishop in the vestments wherein he had just said mass,
and, dragging him to a hill-top near, there they stoned and beheaded
him, stripping off his garments and dividing them among themselves for
memorials. His body was afterwards interred at Edingdon. Possibly his
scholarship, which separated him from his people, was the real cause
of his unpopularity, which is, however, generally attributed to his
frequent absence with King Henry VI., to whom he was Confessor.
=Richard Beauchamp= (1450-1481) was translated from the bishopric of
Hereford. Son of Sir Walter, and grandson of Lord Beauchamp of Powick,
he was sent on diplomatic missions to various courts, including
Burgundy. In 1471 he was one of the signatories of the truce with the
Duke of Brittany. In 1477 he became Dean of Windsor, and was appointed
by Edward IV. master of the works then in progress, which included the
rebuilding of St. George's Chapel. At Salisbury he left the great hall
of the bishop's palace and his own superb chantry as memorials of his
architectural skill. Elsewhere in this book is a fuller description of
this beautiful tomb demolished by Wyatt. He himself was buried at
Windsor; in an arch opposite his tomb was a missal carved in stone
with a quaint inscription, beginning, "Who leyde this boke here." He
is said to have been the first chancellor of the Order of the Garter,
although Dr. Milner assigns that honour to William de Edingdon.
Whether the first or not, he and his successors in the see held it by
charter of Edward, until they were deprived in the reign of Henry
VIII. In 1671 it was again awarded to the see of Salisbury, but
passed, in 1836, with Berkshire to that of Oxford.
=Lionel Woodville=, or Wydville (1482-1484), nephew of Elizabeth,
queen of Edward IV., was appointed to the see in 1482. His
brother-in-law, the Duke of Buckingham, was beheaded in Salisbury
market place just before the battle of Bosworth. Woodville is said to
have died of grief occasioned by the downfall of the fortunes of his
house on the accession of Richard III.
=Thomas Langton= (1485-1493) is best remembered as a patron of
literature, for which he has been called a second Maecenas, yet,
despite the "fostering hand he always afforded to learned men," he was
an opponent of Wicklif's heresies, and did his best to stamp them out
in his see when they had gained a number of adherents.
=John Blyth= (1494-1499) was Chancellor of Ireland in 1499. An effigy,
assumed to be his, is in the north transept.
=Henry Dean=, or Denny, or Syer (1500-1501), was translated to
Canterbury shortly after his appointment to Salisbury. He is believed
to have been one of the victims of the Great Plague, and to have died
at Lambeth in 1503.
=Edmund Audley= (1502-1524) was Bishop of Rochester in 1480,
translated to Hereford in 1492, and to Salisbury in 1502. His
beautiful chantry still remains in its original position. St. Mary's,
Oxford, contains a pulpit said to be his gift.
=Lorenzo Campegio=, Cardinal of St. Anastatius, was nominated by Pope
Clement in 1524. He was sent to England to join Cardinal Wolsey in
adjudicating upon the royal divorce. In 1535, when Henry VIII.
disgraced Wolsey, Campegio was also deprived of his see by Act of
Parliament. At Rome, however, he was regarded as Bishop of Salisbury
until his death; and "for some time after" an independent succession
was maintained by the Pope in two English bishoprics, namely,
Salisbury and Worcester.
=Nicholas Shaxton= (1535-1539) was President of Gonville Hall,
Cambridge, and for a while a sturdy supporter of the king. At the time
of Latimer's resignation he also resigned in common with many other
bishops. He was imprisoned, and in 1546 condemned to be burnt, for
denying the real presence; but recanting became prominent as opponent
of the reformers, preaching fiery sermons at the martyrdom of Anne
Askew and others. After he resigned his see he became suffragan to the
Bishop of Ely. He died at Cambridge in 1556.
=John Capon=, or =Salcote= (1539-1557), had been Bishop of Bangor. His
record is notorious for its greed and time-serving. First orthodox,
then Protestant, and one of the revisers of the Liturgy under Edward
VI., again changing under Mary, and one of the judges at the trial of
Bishop Hooper of Gloucester. Fuller impeaches him with Veysey, or
Harman, of Exeter, saying, "it seems as if it were given to binominous
bishops to be impairers of their churches."
=Peter Peto= (1557), a cardinal nominated by the Pope, was refused
possession by Queen Mary, who appointed Francis Malet, Dean of
Lincoln, in his stead, but he in turn, before his consecration, was
ejected by Elizabeth, who had succeeded to the throne meanwhile.
=John Jewel= (1560-1571) is one of the few Protestant bishops
connected with this see who can claim more than diocesan fame. He was
born at Berry Narbor, Devonshire, in 1522, and appears to have
belonged to a good old family. When a Fellow of Corpus, at Oxford, his
adherence to the doctrines of the Reformation caused him to be
expelled; but so greatly was he beloved for his pure life and his
profound scholarship there, that in spite of his expulsion he was
chosen to be Public Orator at his University. His life is too widely
known to need an epitome here. Among his writings, the most famous,
the "Apology for the Church of England," published in 1562, was
quickly translated into every language in Europe. In episcopal matters
he took great interest, and built the library over the cloisters,[12]
besides devoting great care to the education of students, having
always a number of poor lads in his house, and maintaining others at
Oxford, one of whom was the famous "Judicious Hooker." Fuller praises
him in terms that seem, however extravagant, to be generally admitted
by his contemporaries to be fully deserved, and the famous sentence,
"It is hard to say whether his soul or his ejaculations arrived first
in heaven, seeing he prayed dying, and died praying," shows that he
was reverenced by the Reformed Church as a veritable saint. He died at
Monkton Fairleigh in 1571, his tombstone, despoiled of its brass, is
now near that of Bishop Wyvil, whence it was removed from its former
place in the choir.
=Edmund Gheast=, or =Gest= (1571-1577), the first Protestant Bishop of
Rochester, was translated to Salisbury, where he gave a fine
collection of books to the new library of the cathedral. His tombstone
is in the north choir aisle.
=John Piers= (1577-1589) preached before Queen Elizabeth at the solemn
thanksgiving for the defeat of the Spanish Armada. He was translated
to York in 1589.
=John Coldwell= (1591-1596), a physician before he became a cleric, is
also noticeable as the first married bishop who held the see. He was
accused of wasting its revenues, and is responsible for the loss of
Sherborne Castle, which he alienated, says Fuller, "owing to the wily
intrigues of Sir Walter Raleigh."
=Henry Cotton= (1598-1615) was one of the chaplains of Elizabeth, and
a godson of the Queen, of whom she is reported to have remarked that
"she had blessed many of her godsons, now one should bless her." Sir
John Harrington says, "he had nineteen children by one wife, which is
no ordinary blessing, and most of them sonnes. His wife's name was
Patience; the name of which I have heard in few wives, the quality in
none." As the second married bishop he certainly appears to have
supported fully the Protestant opposition to the celibacy of the
clergy.
=Robert Abbott= (1615-1618) was the elder brother of George,
Archbishop of Canterbury. Fuller says, "George was the more plausible
preacher, Robert the greater scholar; George the abler statesman,
Robert the deeper divine. Gravity did frown in George, and smile in
Robert." As one might infer from so strong an opponent of Laud, amid
the large number of his published works most are polemical and
Anti-Romish.
=Martin Fotherby= (1618-1620) held the see but a year, and hence left
no lasting impression upon it.
=Robert Townson= (1620-1621), who attended the execution of Sir Walter
Raleigh, and has left a graphic and touching account of his last
hours, was but ten months bishop when he died, says Fuller, who was
his nephew, of a fever contracted by "unseasonable sitting up to
study," when preparing a sermon to preach before Parliament.
=John Davenant= (1621-1641) attended the Synod of Dort at the bidding
of James I., and was the author of many theological works.
=Brian Duppa=, or =de Uphaugh= (1641-1660) was tutor to the sons of
Charles I., and appointed to Salisbury just before the Commonwealth;
he was deprived almost immediately, and lived in seclusion at Richmond
until, at the Restoration, he was translated to Winchester. His
memorial tablet is in Westminster. Of him Izaak Walton said, "he was
one of those men in whom there was such a commixture of general
learning, of natural eloquence, and Christian humility, that they
deserve a commemoration by a pen equal to their own, which none have
exceeded."
=Humphrey Henchman= (1660-1663) was appointed at the Restoration, no
doubt as a reward for his great services to King Charles after the
battle of Worcester. After holding the see three years he was
translated to London.
=John Earles= (1663-1665), appointed Bishop of Worcester at the
Restoration, was translated to Salisbury in 1663. One of his books,
"The Microcosmographie, or a Piece of the World Discovered in Essays
and Characters," first published anonymously in 1628, was extremely
popular, and ran through many editions; it is still read as a faithful
picture of its times. Hallam in his "Literary History" praises it
highly, Clarendon in his "Memoirs" also eulogizes its author, and
Izaak Walton in his "Life of Hooper" speaks of his innocent wisdom,
sanctified learning, and pious, peaceable, and primitive temper.
Earles was constantly with Prince Charles during his exile, and hence
one of the first ecclesiastics to receive preferment.
=Alexander Hyde= (1665-1667) was first cousin to the famous Lord
Chancellor Clarendon. A portrait, alleged to represent this prelate,
was found by Bishop Fuller in an obscure cottage; it is now in the
Bishop's palace.
=Seth Ward= (1667-1689), who was made Bishop of Exeter at the
Restoration, and translated to Salisbury in 1667, took great interest
in the fabric, and restored the bishops' palace. The survey of the
cathedral by Sir Christopher Wren was undertaken by his request and at
his own cost. He regained for his see the Chancellorship of the Order
of the Garter, lost for a century and a half. He founded the College
of Matrons, and at his death at Knightsbridge in 1688, was buried in
the south choir aisle. Dr. Walter Pope's biography of this bishop is
an interesting record of an eventful life.
=Gilbert Burnet= (1689-1715). Lord Macaulay has summed up the
character of this bishop in terms, that if they convey an impression
of a vain, indiscreet, and somewhat blundering partisan, yet do
justice to the vigour and strength of his character, while of the
"History of his Own Times," and many other volumes yet remembered, he
says: "A writer whose voluminous works in several branches of
literature find numerous readers one hundred and thirty years after
his death, may have had great faults, but must also have had great
merits."
=William Talbot= (1715-1721) was of the house of Shrewsbury, and
father of Lord Chancellor Talbot. He was translated to Durham in 1721.
=Richard Willis= (1721-1723) held the see for two years, when he was
translated to Winchester.
=Benjamin Hoadly=, Bishop of Bangor 1716, Hereford 1721, Sarum 1723.
Owing to the controversy raised by one of his sermons, Convocation was
suspended for 150 years.
=Thomas Sherlock= (1734-1748) was appointed to Bangor in 1727,
translated to Salisbury in 1734, declined the Archbishopric of
Canterbury in 1747, and was translated to London in 1748. In the most
apathetic time of the Anglican Church he is a striking example of
activity and earnestness.
=John Gilbert= (1749-1757) was a turbulent bishop whose record is full
of disputes with the civic authorities at Salisbury.
=John Thomas= (1757-1761), Bishop of Peterborough 1746, and afterwards
Bishop of Winchester, was married four times, and is reported to have
said that he had killed three wives by never contradicting them.
=Robert Hay Drummond= (1761) was translated to the Archbishopric of
York four months after his appointment to Salisbury. He preached at
the coronation of George III.
=John Thomas= (1761-1766), elected Bishop of St. Asaph in 1743, but
consecrated to Lincoln, was eighty years old when translated to
Salisbury.
=John Hume= (1766-1782), Bishop of Bristol 1756, Bishop of Oxford and
Dean of St. Paul's 1758.
=Shute Barrington= (1782-1791), translated to Durham. Excepting Bishop
Wilson, his fifty-six years' tenure of office is the longest in the
Anglican Church. He died in 1826.
=John Douglas= (1791-1807) was present as an army chaplain at the
battle of Fontenoy, in which he very nearly took an active part, but
was so laden with valuables left in his care by officers, that he was
compelled to refrain and be content to remain a non-combatant, and
remove his treasures to a safe place. As author of "The Criterion, or
Rules by which True may be distinguished from Spurious Miracles,"
1754, and many other books, he established for himself a sound
literary reputation. Made Bishop of Carlisle in 1787, and translated
to Salisbury in 1791; he was also Dean of Windsor from 1780 to his
death, when he was buried in St. George's Chapel.
=John Fisher= (1807-1825). Exeter, 1803, Preceptor to Princess
Charlotte.
=Thomas Burgess= (1825-1837). St. David's, 1803.
=Edward Denison= (1837-1854). Brother of a late Speaker of the House
of Commons, Viscount Ossington.
=Walter Kerr Hamilton= (1854-1869). Author of a "Letter on Cathedral
Reform," which followed his exhaustive contribution to the Cathedral
Commission Reports, 1853.
=George Moberley= (1869-1885). Head Master of Winchester, 1835-1866.
=John Wordsworth= (1885).
[Illustration: BRASS OF BISHOP WYVILLE (_see_ P. 66).]
FOOTNOTES:
[10] 14th May, 1228. _Vide_ "Hist. Dunelm. Script.," App. lii.
[11] Others say Tarrant Monkton.
[12] This statement is open to doubt.
THE CLOSE AND CHURCHES.
The =King's House=, which faces the west front, on the western side of
the Close, is a stately building, wherein, tradition says, monarchs
have dwelt. Richard III. is said to have been housed there when the
Duke of Buckingham was brought prisoner to Salisbury; and in the reign
of James I. its owner, Sir Thomas Sadler, was often honoured by visits
from that monarch. Underneath the great gateway which pierces the
building, in the north wall, is the shaft of a "sack lift," a curious
relic of mediaeval times. The fine proportions and sturdy treatment of
the architecture of this house deserve study. It is now used as a
training establishment for school mistresses. Close by is the Deanery,
and to the south a building known as the =Wardrobe House=; which name
is supposed to indicate its use in connection with the King's House;
still farther south is =Leden Hall= (or Leyden Hall), hidden behind
trees, so that from the Close you can but catch a glimpse of the
building by Elias de Derham, to which reference has been made earlier
in this book. In the other direction are the =Theological College=, a
very lovely and spacious building, the =Choristers' School=, and many
private houses of great antiquity and considerable beauty. Indeed, it
is possible that at no other place could you find such a display of
English domestic architecture, from mediaeval to Georgian times. The
beauty of the Close, well wooded as it still is, despite the havoc
wrought by the terrible gale in March, 1897, is not to be put into
words. No matter how praise were lavished in a description, it would
yet be inadequate. But whether you see it for the first time, or after
many visits, it still keeps its place as the most perfect thing of its
sort in the world.
The =High Street Gate=, which from its position may be regarded as the
chief entrance to the Close, is an embattled structure of two stories,
built, as the pieces of Norman stone work clearly show, from material
brought from Old Sarum. In the niche above the arch on the south side
is a figure, popularly supposed to represent Charles I., although its
proportions more nearly resemble those of James I. It is said that a
statue of Henry III. originally occupied the niche. To the left, as
you have passed the gateway, stands the picturesque =Matron's College=
founded and endowed by Bishop Seth Ward in 1685. Also on the left is a
house formerly occupied by Canon Bowles, and still earlier by
Archdeacon Cole, both Salisbury worthies with more than local
reputation.
=St. Ann's Gate= is in the east wall of the Close, in the southern
angle. It is a long, low two-storied building, with two light
perpendicular windows in the upper story, and from the street outside,
where a projecting window is a noticeable feature, is very
picturesque. In common with the other gates and with the walls of the
Close, Norman stones moulded and carved are visible in many places. A
house near the south side was occupied by Fielding, who moved
afterwards next door to the Friary in St. Ann's Street, and finally to
another at Milford Hill, where he wrote "Tom Jones."
=Harnham Gate= near the south boundary is but a fragment, an embattled
archway devoid of an upper story. Near this gateway, just outside the
precincts, stood the ancient college of De Vaux, founded in 1260 by
Bishop Bridport.
=The Bishop's Palace= is not visible from the Close, but can be seen
through a doorway in the cloisters. It is set in the midst of
delightful gardens, a rambling picturesque building dating from many
periods. Bishop Poore began it--Bishop Beauchamp built its great hall;
within its walls are portraits of all the bishops of Salisbury since
the Restoration.
=The Hospital of St. Nicholas= is situated between Harnham Gate and
Harnham Bridge. The charter of its endowment dates from the castle of
Old Sarum in September, 1227. It still shelters a dozen inmates in a
most picturesque house, part of the original structure. On an islet is
a more modern building, which is on the foundation of the chapel of
St. John, suppressed at the Reformation.
=The Church House=, as it is now called, was formerly known as
Audley House, and belonged to the Earl of Castlehaven who was beheaded
in 1631, and his property divided between the bishop and others. It is
most picturesquely placed by Crane Bridge.
[Illustration: SOUTH FRONT. HIGH STREET GATE. NORTH FRONT.
_From Photographs by Carl Norman and Co._]
=The Poultry Cross= is still standing near the Market Place. At one
time a sundial and ball crowned the structure, but these have been
replaced by a cross. Close by it and scattered frequently throughout
the streets of the city are overhanging houses that betray their
antiquity at a glance.
[Illustration: THE CHURCH HOUSE.
_From a Photograph by Witcomb and Son, Salisbury._]
=The Guildhall=, a very interesting building as engravings show, was
demolished at the end of the eighteenth century. The Joiners Hall, the
Tailors Hall, the Hall of John Halle, the Old George, are still
standing, with some of their features modified but not sufficiently
altered to deprive them of interest.
=The Church of St. Thomas a Becket= is a most picturesque structure,
and, placed as it is in a square of old tiled houses, makes a
delightful picture. It consists of a nave with two aisles, a chancel
with aisles, and a vestry room. It was built in 1240 by Bishop
Bingham. The embattlemented tower has in its south front two niches
containing much mutilated figures of the Virgin and Child and St.
Thomas a Becket. In the porch is a very curious panel with a biblical
subject rudely carved by Humphrey Beckham, who died, aged
eighty-eight, in 1671, and left this as his memorial. The most
striking feature of the interior is the large painting above the
chancel arch, representing the Day of Judgment, in the naive manner of
its time. A reproduction will be found in Hoare's "Modern Wiltshire"
(vol. 6), and most works on ecclesiastical mural decoration mention it
as one of the most important examples that have come down to us. Other
paintings in the south aisle were brought to light by Mr. G.E. Street
during the restoration in 1867. Without and within it is a building
hardly less worth study than the cathedral itself.
[Illustration: THE POULTRY CROSS.
_From a Photograph by Carl Norman and Co._]
=St. Edmund=, founded by Bishop de la Wyle in 1268 for a Provost and
twelve secular canons, is at the north-east of the city. To the east
of its churchyard is the college of St. Edmunds, on the site of the
convent founded in 1268 by the same bishop. In the grounds of the
college stands the old north transept porch of the cathedral, a
picturesque ruin whose architecture at once disposes of the theory
that it came from Old Sarum.
[Illustration: OLD PLAN OF SALISBURY.]
=St. Martin= is another church of very ancient foundation, containing
an interesting Norman font.
It is impossible to close even the most brief note of objects of
interest at, or near, Salisbury, without naming George Herbert's
church, Bemerton, and Stonehenge; two places which attract pilgrims
from all parts of the world. Yet no space is left to describe them, or
to refer to Henry Lawes, musician, and Philip Massinger, dramatist,
two of the many famous men who had the city for their birthplace. The
cathedral has been the main object of this volume, and other matters,
interesting though they may be, must needs be left untouched here.
THE END.
[Illustration: PLAN OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.]